Amazing BHS rally just short

BROKEN ARROW —Bartlesville High School’s varsity boys basketball team proved in Tuesday’s opener it has plenty of heart and character.

BROKEN ARROW —Bartlesville High School’s varsity boys basketball team proved in Tuesday’s opener it has plenty of heart and character.

But, even those two stellar qualities — proven to be in abundant quantities — weren’t enough to overcome a 19-point deficit in the third quarter.

Almost, though.

Even though it dominated at the free throw line (18-of-21, compared to 8-of-18 for Bartlesville) — and controlled the boards for a big chunk of the game — Broken Arrow needed a clutch bucket in the final five seconds to defeat the Bruins, 73-71.

A 33-point output by junior Bruin guard Antonio Castillo — and two pressure-packed three-pointers in crunch time by sophomore guard A.J. Parker — helped Bartlesville pack a 25-point punch in the final quarter.

The same could be said of the Tigers, who wilted a bit down the stretch but never folded in the fiery heat of Bartlesville’s astounding rally.

How astounding?

With less than four minutes remaining in the third quarter, Broken Arrow pushed its lead to 19 points, 57-38, after Josh Holliday scored a second-chance bucket, while being hammered for a foul.

Holliday — who had hit 3-of-3 free throws to that point — missed the "and-1" that would have made it a 20-point margin.

That’s when the tide began to turn — turn Bruin blue.

The momentum really shifted gears several seconds later when Holliday got loose on a breakaway and streaked toward the rack, determined to dunk the ball.

But, he whiffed on the attempt and Bartlesville grabbed the defensive rebounds and hustled the other way. Castillo then scored — on a driving, underhand layup from the left block — to cut Broken Arrow’s lead to 17 points, 57-40.

It was a small beginning to a tall rally.

Broken Arrow failed to hit its shot on the other end and Bartlesville’s Jackson Bart ripped down the rebound and made the outlet pass — leading to a three-pointer by Castillo to make it a 14-point game, 57-43.

Holliday then nailed a 17-footer to bump the Tiger lead back to 16.

But, the Bruins narrowed the margin to 15 points, 61-46, heading into the fourth quarter.

That’s when the fun really began for the scores of Bruin faithful who had made the journey — on a chilly night — to Broken Arrow.

Buckets by Jackson Bart and Barron Tanner (both off assists from Parker), trimmed the Tigers’ lead to 11 points, 61-50, with 6:21 left in the contest, prompting an immediate time out by Broken Arrow to try to cool the Bruin comeback.

But, coming out of the break, Broken Arrow missed two shots and the Bruins repossessed the ball, on Tanner’s rebound.

On the other end, Castillo scored a layup plus free throw to pull Bartlesville within eight points, 61-53.

And, the Bruins kept coming.

With the score sitting at 63-55, a Bruin three-pointer — set up by Parker’s steal — made it a five-point game, 63-58, with five minutes showing on the clock.

At the 3:38 mark, Bart nailed two free throws to bring Bartlesville back within five, 65-60.

A bit later, Bartlesville clawed to within four points, 67-63, on Castillo’s final three-pointer of the evening.

Broken Arrow bumped its lead back to six, 69-63, with 2:51 remaining.

That’s when Parker found the hot hand.

The sophomore super shot rang up a three-point to cut Broken Arrow’s lead in half, 69-66.

After Broken Arrow’s Kaleb Waymire scored a deuce, Parker produced another trey, making it a two-point game, 71-69, with 1:50 left.

Both teams traded turnovers during the next several seconds.

Broken Arrow made another turnover with exactly 1:00 showing on the clock.

Going on the attack, Parker took the ball to the paint and threw up a shot over a soaring defender. The ball hung on the rim for what seemed like, to Bruin fans, as the entire length of the movie "Gone With The Wind."

Perhaps a kind wind then blew, because the ball finally dropped through the cords for a Parker deuce to tie the game, 71-71.

Broken Arrow then called a timeout. There was :11.59 left on the clock.

The Tigers’ Gaulden managed to hit the game-winner after he penetrated to the high post.

Bartlesville called timeout to set up one final play. There was :3.64 seconds showing.

The inbounds sequence sputtered, however, and the best the Bruins could get was about 45-footer by Castillo; the ball bounced off the top of the standard while the buzzer sounded.

Broken Arrow celebrated immediately.

All things considered, however, the Bruins had little about which to mourn.

If not for an uncharacteristic free throw flop in the first half, Bartlesville might easily have walked away with the win in its pocket.

The Bruins went 0-for-8 in the first half from the stripe, while Broken Arrow was 8-for-9; Castillo missed his first seven free throws.

But, Castillo turned it around in the second half, making 5-for-5 free throws; as a team, Bartlesville hit 8-for-11 charity tosses in the second half.

Despite the Bruins’ struggles at the stripe, they still turned in a mostly solid first half — thanks largely to the heads-up post play of first-year starter Hayden Bryant.

Three times in the first quarter, Bryant scored on baseline cuts and weakside layups, set up by penetration and dish-offs by both Castillo and Parker.

With Bryant tallying two buckets in the opening three minutes, Bartlesville bolted out to a 9-5 lead, including a three-pointer by Castillo, off an assist from Bart.

The Bruins built a five-point lead, 13-8, when Castillo nailed a turnaround 15-footer that nestled in the net like Santa Claus falling through a greased chimney.

And, the good times continued for the boys in Blue.

A three-pointer by Nick Shoemaker and Bryant’s third layup powered the Bruins to an eight-point lead, 18-10, with approximately two minutes left in the first quarter.

But, Broken Arrow ended the period with a 10-3 run to close within a point, 21-20.

The Tigers pushed out to an 11-point lead, 40-29, but Bartlesville cut the margin to nine, 40-31, on Castillo’s penetrating, overhead hook shot, just before the end of the half.

The Tigers roared out with a 17-7 run to begin the third quarter, but then saw their lead begin to fizzle as the Bruins began to sizzle.

In the end, Broken Arrow — which is ranked No. 14 in the state — prevailed.

In addition to Castillo’s 33 points, Shoemaker and Parker both scored 10 points, while Bryant followed with eight and Bart tallied seven.

Tanner Gregurich scored 18 for Broken Arrow, followed by Holliday with 17.

But, 15th-ranked Bartlesville gave notice it might be a team to be reckoned with the next two-and-a-half-months and in the playoffs.